Return mailing-envelop.



F. E. W. HOPKE & L. S. SHARPS.

RETURN MAILING ENVELOP.

APPLICATION FILED MMLZ, I914.

Patented Nov, 21, 1916.

avwc 11 6020 UNITED STATES P ATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ EDUARD WILLIAM HOPKE AND LEON STEUART SHARPS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RETURN MAILING-ENVELOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21,1916.

- Application filed March 2, 1914. Serial No. 821,884.

'1 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANZ EDUARD WIL- LIAM Horn: and LEON STEUARTSEARPs,

citizens of the United States, both residing at New York city, boroughof Brooklyn, in the county. of Kings and State of New York, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements inIReturn- Mailing-Envelops, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and concise description.

The present invention relates generally to improvements in envelops ofpaper or similar material, which are commonly employed for thetransmission of messages through the mails or otherwise, and it is morespecifically directed to provide what is commonly known as a returnmailing envelop.

The principal object of the present invention is to produce an efficientreturn mailing envelop for use under all conditions .and for allpurposes to which articles of that kind may be subjected; which will beeconomical to manufacture, it being so formed as to require a minimumamount of material in its production, and WlllCll w1ll be arranged in amanner that will facilitate the transmittal of messages betweenCOI'I'G'.

spondents or others 'by reducing to the smallest degree the laborrequired in directing or addressing the env'elopfor otherwise preparingit for use.

A further object of our invention is to provide an envelop, which, inaddition to possessing the aforesaid advantages, will also protect thecontents to a large extent against extraction without destroying or atleast injuring the envelop to a degree which will make it manifest thatthe same had *beentampered with, thereby insuring the contents of theenvelop from illicit extraction or perusal by others than'gthose forwhom they are intended;

Our invention also contemplates a return mailing envelop embodying theaforesaidadvantages, wherein in the mailing of letters and othercommunications of a similar character, the folding of the sheet bearingthe communication in a specific manner, will render thename of theaddressee visible. Many other advantages of use will become manifest asthe description proceeds and we shall, therefore, now describe ourinvention with reference to the accompanying drawing s,inwhichl'- igure1 is a plan view of our mvention showing the'manner in which the envelopis cut from the blank. Fig. 2 is a front elevation showing the envelopportion contain ing the inclosure, and the front flap in extendedposition, and, Fig. 3-is a vertical section in elevation taken on lineA-A of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail,

-in which like reference characters are eInployed to designate similarparts throughout the several views, 7 indicates the front face of theenvelop which is tocontain the body portion of the sheet 8, which, forpur- Y poses of clearness of description, we will as-v sume is anordinary letter-head. Extending from eachside of the front portion 7 arethe flaps or extensions '9 and.10 which, when the envelop is formed, areadapted to fold down upon the inner surface of the portion 7 so that theback portion 11 of the en- ,velop, which is preferably cut as shown, may

be'pasted down thereupon. It will'be' seen at this stage of'theproduction of: our envelop, an open-mouth rectangular bag is formedhaving the front face 7 and the back portion 11, the ends being closedby'the -inwardly directed extensions 9 and 10 upon which the backportion 11 is firmly glued or otherwise secured. It will be noted thatthe upper edge of the envelop is provided with a sealing flap of thecustomary conformation, the function of which will be hereinafter morefully set forth.

Formed integral with the back portion 11 is a preferably rectangularflap 12 provided with ears or extensions 13 and 14 at each of itsshorter ends and a flap or extension 15 projecting from vitslonger edge.-If de-f steam or similar process as may be done' pose to simply creaseor fold the parts at that we provide an enwith the envelop now in use,wherein the end flaps are pasted to the outer surface of the back flap.

In use, the sheet 8, which is to be mailed,

is preferably folded on the lines 17 and 18 as shown in Fig. 2, theportion of the sheet beyond the fold 17 being placed within the envelopand this fold resting on the upper edge 19 thereof, the sealing flap 20being turned into the envelop. When this has been done, the flap 12 isdrawn over the face of the communication 8, the window or rectangularaperture 21 rendering the inscription or address thereon visible,whereupon side extensions 13 and 14 and end extension 15 of the flap12fare pasted over on to the back of the envelop. This produces anoriginal mailing envelop which absolutely protects the contents andwhich it is manifest will provide an envelop of the ordinary type forreturn mailing purposes. To utilize our invention for the latterpurpose, all that is necessary is to tear the flapfll2 from engagementwith the envelop portion, after which the sealing flap thereof may bedrawn out therefrom, when the communication or other closure can bereadily placed therein and the envelop sealed by means of the flap 20 inthe usual manner.

While we have described our invention with reference to the specificembodiment therein illustrated, it is obvious that the same may bevaried in minor details without departing from the spirit and scope ofour invention. For instance, if desired, perforations may be providedalong the lines of the side and end extensions of the flap 12 and thewindow may be omitted, or covered with a sheet of transparent materialto protect the contents of the envelop.

Having thusdescribed our invention what we claim as new herein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A return mailing envelop formed from a single blank of materialcomprising a rectangular face portion, having end flaps projectingtherefrom and a back portion adapted to rest upon said end flaps and besecured thereto to form the containing portion of the envelop, a sealingflap projecting from the free edgeof saidenvelop, and a rectangularextension of the same dimension as said face portion formed integralwith the nor mally free edge of said portion andiprovided with a foldalong said edge whereby said extension may be folded to cover the entireface portion of said envelop and flaps j projecting from the three freeedges of said -55 extension and adapted to fold over upon and be securedto the back portion of said envelop to maintain said rectangularextension in position relatively to said face portion, for the purposesdescribed.

2. A return mailing envelop having a rectangular front/face and a backface formed flaps formed on the three free edges of the said extensionand adapted to fold over and be secured to the back of the envelop.

3. A return mailing envelop having a. rectangular front face and a backface formed by flaps extending from three of the edges of the frontface, said flaps being adapted to be secured together by an adhesive,whereby the fiaps on the parallel edges of the face pprtion willunderlie the larger flap to form a complete envelop, a sealing flapextending from the front face of the envelop, a rectangular extensionformed integral with the normally free edge of'the larger back formingflap and adapted to overlie and cover the sight opening provided in saidextension whereby a portion of the face of the envelop will bedisclosed.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a return mailing envelop formed froma single blank having two rectangular portions of the same dimensionsand an intermediate cut-out portion, one of said rectangular portionsbeing provided with flaps projecting from its three free edges, saidlatter portion being adapted to fold over upon said cut-out portion,whereby the endflaps of said rectangular portion will cooperate withsaid cut-out portion to form a complete envelop, extensions being formedalong the three free edges of the remaining rectangular portion, wherebysaid latter portion may be folded over upon and completely cover theface portion of the envelop, its flaps being adapted to be folded overupon and adhere to the back portion of the envelop;-

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRANZ EDUARD WILLIAM HOPKE. LEON STEUART SHARPS.

